Ceiling or wall paneling structure



1965 R. E. SPANGENBERG CEILING OR WALL PANELING STRUCTURE Filed 001;. 29, 1962 FIG.1

INVENTOR ATTORNEE United States Patent 3,212,224 CEILING 0R WALL PANELHNG STRUCTURE Robbert Ernst Spangenberg, The Hague, Netherlands, assignor to Hunter Douglas International (Quebec) Limited, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, a corporation of Canada Filed Oct. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 233,614 Claims priority, application Netherlands, Nov. 3, H61, 271,927 1 Claim. (Cl. 52-486) This invention relates to a paneling structure for a ceiling, wall or suchlike surface, comprising panels which are bent at their longitudinal edges and are supported by arched edges of bearing members of substantially U- shaped cross-section, said bearing members being carried by supporting members such as stringers and being fastened to the stringers with the aid of fastening members which are so constructed that these are adapted to be brought in an intermediate position into the stringers, in which position the bearing members are supported at a distance from the stringers, and in a final position in which the edges of the panels are firmly clamped between the bearing members and the stringers or some other support as well as to a bearing member for such a paneling structure.

With the paneling structure described above one meets with difficulties if the bearing members of an existing ceiling, wall or suchlike paneling are to be returned into the intermediate position without damaging the panels carried by said bearing members. This results from the fact that the upright portions of the panels are lying against the upright walls of the bearing members and the panels consist of thin sheet metal, preferably aluminium, which is provided with a coating of paint.

This difliculty is avoided by the structure according to the invention in that each of the upright walls of the bearing members comprises a groove extending in the longitudinal direction. As a consequence thereof it is possible to insert a putty knife or similar tool of small thickness and large surface between a panel edge and the bearing member. If subsequently the tool is turned, it will come into contact over its entire width with the edge of the panel so that a sufficiently strong force can be exercized in order to bring the bearing member into the intermediate position. For this purpose the grooves in the upright walls of the bearing members are so shaped that the tool cannot slide unintentionally out of the groove.

The invention will be explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing by way of example an embodiment of the paneling structure for a ceiling according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows this paneling structure for a ceiling in perspective.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show in section part of FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale, the holding member being in the intermediate position and in the final position respectively.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 a number of stringers 1 are fixed by means of rods 2 to the beams 3 of a floor. In these stringers there are provided at regular intervals in accordance with the width of the utilized panels holes 5 for receiving fastening means 6.

The fastening means 6 consist of a resilient metal strip, for example a steel strip, which is so bent that a head 7 with two bearing surfaces is formed. These bearing surfaces 8 support the inwardly bent edges 9 of a bearing member 10 in which the fastening members 6 are held with their heads. Each fastening member 6 comprises two legs of which each leg has an outwardly bent portion 11 and a lip 12 pointing towards the head 8.

When .a fastening means 6 is pressed into a hole 5 of a stringer 1, after the head of said fastening means has 3,212,224 Patented Oct. 19, 1965 been introduced in a bearing member 10, the lips 12 come to rest on the upper surface of the stringer 1, the bearing member 10 assuming an intermediate position in which the upper ends of the longitudinal edges are located at a distance from said stringer 1. Then the bearing member 10 cannot be separated anymore from the stringer 1, since the lips 12 prevent such a separation. On account of the fact that the bearing member is located at .a distance from the stringer 1, a panel may be hooked on each of the free longitudinal edges of the bearing member 10. Thereafter the bearing member may be brought into its final position by exerting a pressure against said bearing member, the bent portions 11 of the fastening means 6 being pressed through the hole 5. Consequently the longitudinal edges of two supported panels 4 borne by the bearing member 10 are firmly clamped between the stringer and the bearing member 10 (FIG. 3).

The panels 4 are trough-shaped with arched longitudinal edges. It is preferred for the height of these longitudinal edges to be substantially equal to the height of the upright walls of the bearing member 10 so that the lower surface of the panels extend in substantially the same plane as the plane in which the lower surface of the bearing members 10 is situated. In the case of the ceiling structure shown in FIG. 1, there is provided on the panels 4 a strip 13 of porous paper or other porous material, a sound-absorbing filling 14 being arranged on said strip 13.

As is apparent from the drawings each of the upright walls of the bearing members 10 has a groove 15 extending in the longitudinal direction of said bearing members 10 and having an approximately L-shaped or inverted L-shaped cross-section respectively.

If the bearing member 10 must be returned from the position shown in FIG. 3 into the position shown in FIG. 2 a putty knife or similar fiat tool is inserted between a panel 4 and the bearing member 10 as indicated by the line 16 in FIG. 3. Thereupon the free end of the tool is turned upwards so that its other end penetrates into the groove 15 and the bearing member is pressed downwards until it assumes again the position according to FIG. 2, the bent portions 11 being removed from the holes 5. The tool thereby lies with its entire width against the panel 4 so that there is no risk of damaging the panel.

It is obvious that the invention is not restricted to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings but that it may be modified in many ways without departing from the scope of the invention. For example the grooves extending in the longitudinal direction of the bearing member may also have a cross-sectiondifferent from the one shown in the drawings. However, this cross-section should be such as to provide for a satisfactory support during the turning. If desired strips of foamed material, foamed rubber or like material may be provided in these grooves.

I claim:

A pane-ling structure for ceilings, walls and similar surfaces comprising a plurality of panels having flat facing surfaces and substantially vertical edges terminating in arched longitudinal rims; a plurality of elongated bearing members comprising a web and substantially vertical walls extending upwardly therefrom and terminating in arched longitudinal edges, each of said walls having a longitudinal groove formed therein, each of said panel rims bearing against a corresponding bearing member edge with the facing surface of the panel and the web of the bearing member being coplanar and the panel edge and the bearing member wall being disposed in .an abutting relationship enclosing said grooves therebetween; a plurality of supporting means provided with holes; and a plurality of fastening means non-releasably fitting into said holes securing the bearing members to the supporting means, said fastening means including a bent resilient strip having a head portion and two legs, said head portion resting within the arched edges of the bearers, each of the legs of the fastening means extending through the holes in the supporting means and having an outwardly extending lip for non-releasably securing the fastening means in the supporting means and for securing the bearing member to the supporting means in an intermediate position in which the bearing members are supported at a distance from said Supporting means, each of said legs having an outwardly bent portion intermediate the head and the lips supporting the bearers in a second final position in which the rims of the panels are firmly clamped between the bearing members and the supporting means, whereby a knife blade may be inserted between the bearing member wall and the panel edge into said groove and moved downwardly to exert a downward pres- References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,895,657 1/33 Geiger 52601 2,150,130 3/39 Ra gsdale et a1 52-466 2,540,603 2/51 Urbain l8936 3,139,162 6/64 Spangen'berg 52-488 RICHARD W. COOKE, JR., Primary Examiner.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, JACOB L. NACKENOFF,

Examiners. 

